We begin by sliding side to side, then change the move to a speed skater for 30 seconds. It gets most intense when we’re asked to touch the floor for 20 seconds.

There are two more rounds with the disks. Both follow the hard… harder… hardest format.

“You engage muscles you wouldn’t normally use and recruit a lot more fiber. That’s important because the more muscle fiber you recruit, the more calories you’re going to spend.”

The last 20 seconds are tough! And we don’t get much rest before we’re back to doing Tabatas.

“Now it’s an upper body focus,” says Irene.

This time the four rounds include punching and jumping, the speed bat and jobbing. Remember, the goal is to work as hard as you can for 20 seconds, then rest for ten.

After eight rounds, the disks are back. This time, we start with a burpee, then transition to a mountain climber. During the next set, the disks are under our knees. Irene instructs us to curl our spine. The movement continues, but the disks are placed under our toes. The longer the lever, the harder the workload.

Splits and push-ups are next. Now we’re really tired. The final 30 seconds still have us working from a plank position. It’s incredible how hard it can be to move your own body weight – especially when we do the work face up. There are three set of exercises in this set. We begin with a hamstring curl, followed by a splits move and finished off with Irene’s signature move. It involves pulling the body through the arms.

These intense intervals give us the best of both worlds – cardio and resistance. And you know it’s tough when the trainer is tapped out at the end.